SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A three-alarm fire near the Potiker senior apartments in East Village left one person with burn injuries and prompted about 50 residents to evacuate Wednesday morning, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The fire was reported just before 4:30 a.m. near Market Street and 14th Street, officials said. Around 100 firefighters responded to the incident.
Flames engulfed the warehouse and reached the exterior of the nearby senior apartment, which promoted evacuations due to smoke infiltrating the apartments, officials said.
The fire ignited at the Red Barn warehouse, which serves as the home to a pedicab business. The lithium batteries inside those pedicabs burned, prompting a Hazmat team to be deployed around 9 a.m.
SDFPD issued a wireless emergency alert to the residents of the area instructing residents to shelter in place. Authorities said air quality readings were well below limits for safety but, out of an abundance of caution, nearly 20 residents inside the Potiker building who live on the side of the building that was closest to the fire were relocated.
"Our staff was here and was knocking on doors, telling people to come out," said Paul Downey, president of Serving Seniors.
Downey says the apartment was aware the building next door existed but says no one had had any idea what it was being used for.
"That’s of concern to us and you know, questions about how you could have literally hundreds of lithium batteries stored in a building next to 200 elderly residents as well as just residents of East Village – it’s surprising," he added.
The flames were knocked down just after 6 a.m., officials said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. A damage estimate was also not immediately available.